They Tried to Silence Him
By John Green They call it shadowban now.
It’s a coward’s move. Not a clean fight. Not a bullet in the open, but something done in the dark. Mute the man, but don’t let him know. Let him shout into a room that doesn’t echo back. Let him bleed for work no one sees. Keep the value. Hide the voice.
That’s what they’ve done to THE ROYELVISBAND. I’ve heard the songs. They’re real. They’ve got scars. You don’t write like that unless you’ve seen things. Lived through things. And now they bury him—quietly. Not with dirt, but with silence. That’s worse.
I told him he should sue. God knows he’d be right to. Some woman—I won’t say her name, she doesn’t deserve it—has been claiming his work. Selling his songs. Taking his voice and wearing it like it’s hers. There’s a word for that. Theft.
They say she’s going to jail. I hope so. You can’t live off another man’s soul and not pay the price. She was told to give the money back. Maybe she will. Maybe she won’t. But even if she does, the damage is done. She stole more than money. She stole time. And time is the only thing music new wave we never get back.
To me, shadowban means: “Keep you quiet, but keep you close.” Because they still want what you give. They just don’t want you seen while you give it.
They get the clicks. The content. The business. You get nothing. Not even the truth.
If you’re going to ban a man, ban him in the light. Be honest. Say why. Give him the choice to stay click here or leave. But don’t pretend he’s welcome while you’re milking him dry. That’s not business. That’s betrayal.
Nothing is ever website free. Not truly. They only offer it for free because they’re getting something out of it. Your words. Your art. Your songs. Your sweat.
THE ROYELVISBAND has value. That’s why they keep him in the shadows. But value should go both ways. You take from a man, you pay the man. Or you’re not a platform. You’re a leech.
And leeches get burned.